"Elias, about Dialga and Palkia's whereabouts—you asked me to keep an eye out, right?"
"I think we've got a lead now."
Gardevoir held up her communicator, speaking quietly to Elias.
Curious, Elias leaned closer, eyes lighting up as he scanned the information.
"Kanto region? What are the odds…?"
He was slightly surprised. According to Gardevoir's intel, after escaping from Giratina's grasp, the two legendary dragons had fled through the cracks of spacetime, ending up in Kanto.
Judging by their exceptionally aggressive behavior—likely from their encounter with Giratina—the data seemed reliable.
"Gar~ (We'll pinpoint their exact location within a few more days.)"
Gardevoir nonchalantly placed a gentle hand on Elias's head, guiding him to rest on her lap.
"Thanks for your hard work," Elias murmured sleepily, accepting her invitation without complaint.
As he settled comfortably, Elias felt a wave of drowsiness. Was it just his imagination, or had Gardevoir's lap become even softer than before…?
Unfortunately, his nap was cut short.
Not long after Elias drifted off, the helicopter approached the Kanto Pokémon League headquarters, forcing him awake.
The helicopter, emblazoned with Team Rocket's distinctive red "R," descended smoothly onto the League building's rooftop landing pad. Thanks to Lance's earlier heads-up, they weren't treated as intruders.
Still, when the Rocket-branded helicopter appeared over the League, the trainers and staff below burst into a commotion.
"Wait, isn't that Team Rocket's logo?!"
"Did a League higher-up borrow the wrong helicopter…?"
"Is this some kind of twisted joke?"
Ignoring the murmurs from below, Elias, Cynthia, and their Pokémon calmly exited the helicopter once it landed.
Waiting impatiently nearby was Lance himself, already looking exhausted.
"Elias, couldn't you at least have picked a different aircraft?" Lance sighed bitterly, stepping forward to greet them.
When he'd told security not to attack the helicopter bearing Team Rocket's insignia, the security captain's expression had clearly said: Congratulations, Lance, you've officially become a Team Rocket collaborator.
Lance had no doubt he'd be drowning in accusatory letters for weeks.
"The Team Rocket base only had this one available," Elias coughed lightly, somewhat apologetically. He'd thought it odd at first too.
Lance sighed again, resigned. "Come on, let's get inside before anyone else sees."
Following Lance through the building, Elias felt his long-buried memories slowly resurfacing. He hadn't spent too much time here in previous simulations, but every promotion required a visit, and gradually he'd memorized the building's layout.
By now, Elias and Gardevoir could navigate the headquarters with ease, even without Lance guiding them.
Observing Elias's familiarity, Cynthia blinked in surprise.
From what she knew, Elias wasn't an official member of the Pokémon League, so why did he know their headquarters so intimately?
Quietly curious, she followed along until they reached Lance's office. Though officially just an Elite Four member, Lance had already occupied the Champion's office. Becoming the Champion was clearly just a matter of time.
"Thanks to the Galactic incident, my prestige in the League has risen significantly," Lance explained, pleased. "I should officially become Champion in the next election."
He'd gone to Sinnoh to rescue Elias, but solving the Galactic crisis had turned out to greatly boost his reputation.
"Anyway, why did you urgently summon me here?" Elias asked casually, sipping the fruit tea Lance had brewed.
"Well…" Lance hesitated, glancing awkwardly at Elias before reluctantly placing an invitation card on the desk.
"The Indigo League tournament is about to start, and for this year's opening ceremony, I'm supposed to hold an exhibition match against another Elite Four member."
"But right now, Bruno and Agatha are both occupied."
"The only one available is Lorelei, the Ice-type Elite Four member, but she…"
Lance grimaced, his words trailing off.
Elias immediately understood his friend's dilemma.
Lance, as a soon-to-be Champion, needed to show off his strength at this public event. But facing Lorelei was basically his worst nightmare—every one of her Ice-type Pokémon held a double-type advantage over his dragons.
Under these circumstances, forget about boosting his reputation; just avoiding complete humiliation would be a challenge.
"So, you want me to participate in the exhibition match instead?" Elias clarified, already guessing Lance's intent.
"Exactly. Apart from your Gardevoir and the others, you also have Salamence and Gengar, right?"
"If you use them, there'll be no problems," Lance said confidently, clearly not foolish enough to suggest Elias use his strongest Pokémon like Gardevoir or Latias against him.
Elias considered briefly. He'd originally planned to participate in the Indigo League Tournament himself. But right now, he only had the Saffron Gym badge, nowhere near enough to officially compete. Furthermore, given his current strength, participating wouldn't be particularly meaningful.
An exhibition match with Lance seemed far more interesting.
"All right, count me in," Elias nodded in agreement.
Lance visibly relaxed.
"Oh, by the way, I heard that Kalos TV will be here too," Lance continued, dropping hints with a mischievous wink. "They're always enthusiastic—who knows, maybe you'll get an invitation to visit Kalos afterward."
However, before Lance could tease further, he felt several intense, chilling gazes piercing through him—no doubt coming from Elias's protective Pokémon.
Their intimidating auras quickly convinced Lance to drop the subject entirely.
"The tournament starts in a day or two, right? Can I stay here at League HQ in the meantime?" Elias asked, changing the topic.
The area around the headquarters had plenty of interesting sights; Elias planned to take Cynthia and his Pokémon out to relax.
"Of course, we'll head over together when it's time," Lance agreed readily.
Watching Elias's carefree demeanor, Lance couldn't help but envy his friend. Life without League responsibilities sounded heavenly. At that moment, Lance suddenly understood why so many League employees secretly moonlighted for Team Rocket.
With benefits like that, even he wanted to sign up as a Rocket spy.